It probably goes without saying that I found this video horribly disturbing and difficult to get through. After the first couple of pictures I wanted to quit watching and just say that I got the idea. I'm glad I finished it, however, because I think knowing about this point in history is of monumental importance and I'm sorry to say that I had no understanding of the scope and brutality of this period. I had always thought (and my high school history classes confirmed) that lynching were rare and they happened only to men in the dead of night by a couple of crazy Klan men. I am profoundly disturbed to find I was mistaken, and that it was widespread, public, and involved women and children as well.
This said, I am glad I watched this video. I think it has really broadened my understanding of this historical moment. I better understand why there wasn't more demand for civil rights since people's lives were constantly at stake. I also understand the popularity of Booker T. Washington's stance that African Americans should form their own societies, since this seems far safer. When I was first reading about the two ideological camps, I thought that W.E.B. DuBois was right and that people should be fighting the system, but now I better understand the painful and difficult situation that black families were put in, and the fatal consequences that came to many who stood up for what was right.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment